


Half an hour of sunshine is worth a week of rain

by sarahcakes613



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Divorce, First Meetings, Lawyer Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr., M/M, Pre-Relationship, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23954830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: Rita asks Rafael to represent her during mediation for her divorce settlement. Her ex's lawyer is just Rafael's type.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 120
Collections: Marriage Barisi Bingo





	Half an hour of sunshine is worth a week of rain

**Author's Note:**

> Everything I know about divorce proceedings comes from The First Wives Club. I'm pretty sure this isn't how it goes in real life.
> 
> Title is from Shines Right Through Me by Great Big Sea, which is just about the Barisi-est song ever to come out of Newfoundland.

“Hey, have you ever dealt with anyone from Carisi & Carisi?”

Rafael considers for a moment, then shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. What’s their specialty?”

Rita frowns at her phone. “Family law, according to their website. I can’t believe that fucker hired an actual divorce lawyer.”

Rafael laughs at that. “Rita, you hired a criminal prosecutor. I don’t think he’s the one playing dirty here.”

She shrugs, refusing to acknowledge the accuracy of his statement.

Rita and Rafael have been friends since they were the only pre-law scholarships in a class of trust-fund babies at Harvard. They’ve been there for each other through numerous career and relationship changes, but this is the first time it’s been in a professional capacity. It’s a paperwork divorce, they’ve been separated for more years than they were happily married at this point, but Rita’s a lot more successful now than she was when she got married, and her soon-to-be-ex-husband seems to feel entitled to a larger percentage of her income than the state of New York would see fit to grant him, which is where Rafael comes in.

They’re having an early brunch before they step into the lion’s den that is a divorce attorney’s office and Rafael brings the firm’s site up on his own phone while Rita works her way through a second Bellini. The Carisi & Carisi of the firm’s name are Dominick Jr. and Gina. The about page doesn’t go into detail but there’s a sameness to their faces, and if Rafael had to guess, he’d pin them as siblings, not a married couple. Further evidence of the sibling theory is found in a closer look of their photos. Gina is wearing a ring set on her left hand, while Sonny’s fingers are ringless. There’s also a small rainbow lapel pin on his jacket, which could just be allyship, but somehow Rafael doesn’t think so. According to the website, Dominick’s focus is divorce and custody agreements, while Gina’s expertise is in adoption and foster law.

“Ooh, is that your professional rival for the day? He’s cute.”

Rita peeks over his shoulder on her way back from paying the bill. She pinches her fingers over his screen to zoom in.

“Shit, he’s just your type, too. Look at all that _leg_!”

Rafael waves her off with his napkin. “Yes thank you, Rita, I do have eyes.”

She’s not wrong, Dominick is _absolutely_ his type. He’s tall and lanky, and the fitted suit he’s wearing in his photo showcases a trim waist and long legs that suggest swimming or perhaps cycling for fitness. His smile reaches his eyes, and Rafael admires the eye crinkles that juxtapose the otherwise young features. His hair is silvery-blonde, and styled with so much product Rafael can almost smell the gel through the screen, but he’s intimately familiar with the struggles of thick hair and he bets if he got a hand wound into it after a shower, it would be soft as silk.

When they arrive at Carisi & Carisi, Rita’s ex is running late, and Dominick – Sonny, he’d introduced himself as, as if Rafael is going to acquiesce to call a grown man, a fellow lawyer, _Sonny_ – suggests they go over some of the preliminary details while they wait. Rita runs through the list of disputed assets and walks Carisi through the changes to her income over the years. Her husband is claiming that he’d supported her in an emotional capacity while she climbed the corporate ladder, which is a bold-faced lie, and they can prove it with social calendars that show he’s spent most of the past ten years living in their home upstate while she’s been in Manhattan. Rafael has been her plus-one to nearly every gladhanding work party she’s ever attended.

Rafael snorts audibly when Carisi suggests that perhaps the man felt unable to keep up with her coworkers and stayed away so as not to embarrass her. He turns, frowning.

“Mr. Barba, not everyone is a Harvard graduate, it’s perfectly reasonable to think that maybe he felt intimidated by Ms. Calhoun’s milieu.”

“He’s got an MPA from the London School of Economics, his milieu and Ms. Calhoun’s are one and the same. He and my client have lived apart for ten of the twelve years they’ve been married and the only reason he’s dragging his feet now is because Ms. Calhoun’s set to make partner in her firm within the year.”

Barba tilts his head towards the wall, where Carisi’s own Fordham Law degree is prominently displayed.

“Are _you_ intimidated by Harvard graduates, Mr. Carisi?”

The other man shakes his head, but his neck and the tips of his ears flush an interesting shade of pink.

“I’m just lookin’ out for my client’s best interests, Mr. Barba.”

“Mm, your client who is now,” Barba makes a show of looking at his watch, “a full forty-five minutes late. I think we’ve wasted enough time here. Why don’t we leave our offer with you and you can talk to your client about how it’s in his best interest to sign today. Every day he drags, we’ll be lowering the offer by one percent.”

He stands to leave, and Carisi stands up as well, more out of habit than politeness. They shake hands and as he ushers Rita out, he turns back just in time to see that Carisi’s eyeline had been aimed low and it jumps up to meet Rafael’s. He flushes pink again, embarrassed at being caught checking out opposing counsel.

Rafael bets Rita a round of drinks that the papers will be signed and delivered into her waiting hands by a bike courier before the end of the workday. He wins, and he’s still in his office when she calls him at 8:30 to crow.

“Congratulations on your official return to bachelorhood, Rita.” He toasts her, raising his scotch glass even though she can’t see it.

“Thank you, Rafa. I probably could have done it without you, but I do appreciate the help, really.”

That’s the closest she’s going to get to acknowledging his job well done, but he’ll take it.

“I’m glad it’s resolved so quickly, actually. No worry about professional conflicts.” She continues.

“Oh?” He swirls his glass idly, watching the amber liquid shimmering in the low light of his desk lamp.

“Don’t be deliberately obtuse, Rafa, it doesn’t suit you. I know you saw Sonny checking you out as we left.”

“ _Sonny_.” He scoffs. “Whoever heard of a lawyer named _Sonny_?”

“Yeah, well, _Sonny_ definitely wrote his personal number on the business card that was attached to _your_ copy of the paperwork, but if you don’t want it I’m sure I can find a home for it in my recycling bin.”

“I didn’t say that.” He grumbles. He doesn’t want to admit it, but there was something about the younger lawyer that had appealed to him. The way he tried to hold his own against Rafael’s banter. Or maybe it was the pretty way he blushed. The long legs certainly didn’t hurt either.

They hang up, and his phone buzzes a moment later with a photo of the business card in question. He adds the number to his contacts and then thumbs open a new message window.

_Congratulations on convincing your client to play nice, counsellor_.

_This is Rafael Barba, incidentally._

**Thanx. It wasn’t a bad agreement; I didn’t actually have to do much.**

_Take the compliment, Carisi._

**Call me Sonny.**

Rafael rolls his eyes.

_Fine, Sonny. Does it say Sonny on your Fordham Law diploma, as well?_

**You joke, but I did ask. They said no.**

Rafael laughs out loud at that.

**You burning the midnight oil, Mr. Barba?**

_Not quite, I’m just about to head out for the day._

**You eat supper yet?**

Rafael looks at his wastebasket, where a single sandwich wrapper looks silently back at him. He thinks it might have been chicken salad, he hadn’t really paid attention, just unwrapped it and eaten it mechanically, a means to an end where the end is Carmen not sighing from the other room every time his stomach rumbles loud enough that she can hear it.

_Does a bodega sandwich count?_

**It really doesn’t. How about a little late night meal between colleagues, my treat?**

The three dots appear, disappear, reappear, disappear again. Rafael waits before replying, but the dots don’t show up again. He’s too old to beat around the bush, so he goes for broke.

_Just to clarify, is this you asking me out on a date?_

**Only if you’re gonna say yes. Otherwise no, definitely not, it’s a very professional after-hours business meeting.**

He laughs, considers the sandwich wrapper again.

_Do you know Buddha Bodai on Mott?_

**No, but I’m sure I can find it.**

_It’s not far from your office. I can meet you there in thirty minutes._

**It’s a date.**

**Is it a date?**

_Yes, Sonny, it’s a date._

**Author's Note:**

> Buddha Bodai is a real restaurant in New York and I dearly hope they survive this shitshow, because they serve amazing kosher vegan and vegetarian Chinese food. Also, it's just around the corner from the real Forlini's!


End file.
